Kamaru Usman explains his middleweight move

Usman says money and a faster path to the title made the decision an easy one.

Kamaru Usman will face Dricus Du Plessis in the main event of UFC Oklahoma City, a matchup many fans are looking forward to. The fight will take place in the middleweight division, which doesn’t really make sense for Kamaru Usman, since he has always performed very well in the welterweight division. However, there’s a good reason for this.

Kamaru Usman openly identifies himself as a “moneyweight” fighter, meaning his focus is primarily on the pay. Therefore, the weight class doesn’t matter to him.

“For me, I’ve always said this. I’m a ‘moneyweight’ fighter. So it’s not about ‘85 or ‘70. I can hit both, I'm not the biggest at both, and I’m not necessarily the smallest at both. I might be the smallest at ‘85, but who knows? But for me, it doesn’t matter. I feel that I have the skills to be able to compete at either one. So if it makes sense, I might be there”

he said.

Aside from the fact that he isn’t really interested in his division, he also knows that moving up to middleweight could lead to a title fight sooner. Kamaru Usman is convinced that a win against Dricus Du Plessis would put him right in the mix for a title fight. And that’s partly true. Probably not a direct matchup, but in the near future, this would definitely be realistic. He says himself, however, that he absolutely wants to seize this opportunity to prove once again what he’s capable of. He’s also aware that time waits for no one, which is why he wants to take advantage of this big opportunity.

So the move to middleweight was a clear and obvious decision for him. Whether he ultimately wins against Dricus Du Plessis, and how much closer that will bring him to the title, remains to be seen.

I always find the term “moneyweight” a bit of a shame. However, he does explain that he simply sees better title opportunities for himself in the middleweight division, and when I hear that, I understand his decision again. Do you think he can beat Dricus Du Plessis and secure a title shot that way?